Thursday, July 22, 2010

This short film I recently directed for the United Way is used to help with their donation initiatives for 2010. It was shot with two canon 5d's. Between the impeccable original music, the illustration work, and interview content; it made my job pretty straightforward.

We shot over the course of two days, 10 interviews. Locke Bryan handled the interviews, managing to evoke these emotional stories with the lack of comfort that comes with a studio shoot. For my part, I handled multiple camera angles simultaneously, as well as collective various live action plates that would later be integrated with stylized artwork. Below are some production photos:

Actually, the biggest challenge was toeing the line between too much gloss and style versus content. It was an interesting exercise in restraint. I really wanted a mixed medium of artwork utilizing some of the latest techniques in motion graphic design. I wanted this to facilitate a modern 2010 presentation. Initially, it became too polished. I had to streamline the process by applying hand drawn illustrations created by Matt McLeod (Hyzer Studios). Composting, tracking, and little additional touches would serve as the little bit of magic that I was looking for. Here are some artwork examples:

The music production worked the exact same way. Stephen Benitez began with a very traditional piano composition. Then we placed many modern digital layers on top. We even did a few reverse piano notes that really worked.

The result is, hopefully, a heart grabbing film consisting of five individuals whose hope to one day have a better life was achieved with the help of The United Way. I cannot state enough how satisfying it was to work on this project. If you are touched at all by the stories please find a way to get involved with charity work, whether it be you time or money or both. We all will need someone to help us one day, please pay it forward.